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On the road to Stepanakert, the capital city of Nagorno Karabakh Republic, a tank stands as a monument to Armenians’ victory against Azerbaijan two decades ago, Christian Trippe reports for the Deutsche Welle.

“We are just defending our country, our churches, our graves, our land and our families. We don’t want war,” war veteran V. Arzumanyan, first lieutenant during Karabakh war, tells the journalist. His brother Anushavan, 40, who used to be a top class wrestler, joined the army recently and serves as a volunteer. He says he wants to follow his older brother’s footsteps and do his bit to defend his country.

A sergeant reported that the enemy is very active at night. The snipers are alert to any movement. Exchanges of fire are common.
In the nearby village, the entire population is Armenian. Boris, a resident of the village, told the DW correspondent, “Our blood was spilled on this land. We died for this land. We cannot forgive the Azerbaijanis. They slaughtered children and pregnant women during the war.”

In Stepanakert, Trippe visited the government building, in front of which “proudly flies the republic’s flag.” He spoke with the local ministers there.

“We are not afraid of war, of course. We believe that we are able to give adequate response to any attempt to start war,” NKR Foreign Minister, Karen Mirzoyan, said.

Trippe says the airport in NKR is shiny and new finished just four years ago. “It was partly financed with donations from Armenians living abroad. But no planes land or take of here. Azerbaijan has threatened to shoot down any aircraft that approaches Stepanakert,” the journalist says. There is only one road remaining to go in and out of the republic. It serves as a civilian and military supply route, Trappe points.

Related:
The Star: Nagorno Karabakh stakes its future on babies 
The Irish Times: Azerbaijan threatens to shoot down any aircraft landing at NKR airport 
TV channel BBC tells about Armenians’ lives in NKR under Azerbaijan’s permanent threats